Philosophical Speculations

Mathematicians at the Institute of Mathematical Paradoxes (IMP) have announced that they have proved that there cannot be any proof of anything. “This is an historic achievement,” said Dr. Proova Null, Professor of Mathematical Proofs at the University of Paradoxia. “For many years, we have suspecte...

The Mandela effect involves large numbers of people who firmly claimed to have read of (famed activist) Nelson Mandela's death, but inexplicably made that claim years before he actually died. While it is an urban legend that many say has been debunked, the mysterious fact remains that sometimes, lar...

How does any of this denigrate our existence?
I think it rather gives us more meaningfulness.

consciousness is the only observed phenomenon that observes itself.

If a computer program contains a fatal flaw, the program either crashes, or enters a never-ending loop. Granted, the analogy between cosmology/physics/mathematics and computers is weak, but the speculation arises -- COULD the universe contain a fatal flaw, an inconsistency, a physical-law paradox? I...

This is Math's Fatal Flaw - YouTube In another thread, I discussed the implications of the three-body problem in mathematics, which shows that, even though a deterministic outcome must exist, mathematics itself forbids us from calculating it. Math, the very thing that supposedly does allow us to ca...

Well, one last attempt, and then I shall move on. The question is, can humans construct a valid moral code? My answer is no, we cannot, for we lack both the wisdom and the inclination. We depend on divine revelation. For example, many manmade codes accept certain sexual perversions, while rejecting ...

Soul wrote So what turned it around? While your story is compelling, my response must be the same as it was to Ashvin. Physicalists have no response to the sociopathic credo. If there is no divine source to moral rules, then the sociopath's credo is unassailable. He has no reason to depart from it. ...

My speculation is that Élan vital, like consciousness, is not produced by matter, but that it exists on a sort of higher level, a more foundational level. This is a common attitude but I find that it actually denigrates our existence. It makes it something second rate, whereas I don't believe it is...

Likewise, the shadow of a sociopath is their compassionate, nurturing, empathizing tendencies, which often come out when they are behind bars in prison for many years... While I disagree with this statement, it does not address the question nor the answer. The point is this: Physicalists have no re...

There is a condition that afflicts many humans, a condition called sociopathy. Sociopaths have no conscience. It is thought by some that they are neurologically incapable of feeling any sympathy or empathy for other people. It is as if they are missing part of their brain, the part that feels and re...